Bill Haas responds to being named the tour's most underrated player

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter received most of the attention for a recent Sports Illustrated player poll that named them the most overrated golfers on the PGA Tour. Appropriately, the poll's most underrated player largely slipped under the radar.

In fact, he had no clue.

Bill Haas was the player named the most underrated by his peers, something he hadn't heard about until Friday. His reaction?

"I think it's motivating to think people think you can play out here, but that maybe they haven't seen me play to my potential," said Haas, who shot a bogey-free 67 in the second round at TPC Sawgrass to get into contention at the Players Championship heading into the weekend.

If Haas, 32, hasn't played to his potential yet, then he's in for a heck of a career. The 2011 FedEx Cup champion has six PGA Tour wins and has made more than $22 million in earnings not counting that $10 million bonus. Haas had heard about Fowler being named most overrated in the poll, something he disagreed with.

"I don't know if I'd put too much stock in it when you call him overrated because I wouldn't mind being overrated like Rickie Fowler," Haas said.

Of course, the perception of Haas, not known for playing his best in the biggest events, could change greatly with a win at the Players this week. His previous best finish at TPC Sawgrass was a T-25 in 2012 and he matched his best finish in a major with a T-12 at the Masters last month.

"I think I just need to prove to myself that just getting into this situation is not OK, it's not enough," Haas said. "I want to get into this position and go forward. I've gotten into this position before and I've seemed to fall backwards. Whether it's mental, physical or both . . . I would love to figure out how to get over that hump."

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